The present invention relates generally to network communication, and more particularly, to peer-to-peer (P2P) communication technology for supporting real-time audio or video communication.
In 2009, Google launched Google Wave which provides multiple applications for supporting multiple-person and real-time joint operation. For example, both “Map Gadget” and “Draw Board for Google Wave” enable multiple persons to edit the same file and work in real time, but their purpose is restricted to individual user's operation and lacks the concept of usernames and application authority.
In US 20110178821, Douglas Smith discloses a system whereby medical professionals share a patient's medical images through a conference call in a manner to allow a physician to request a conference call with the other medical professionals while examining a specific patient's data (such as medical images, including x-ray images and ultrasonographic images). The system downloads the data and sends the downloaded data to the medical professionals' computer apparatuses as soon as the medical professionals accept an invitation to participate in the conference call.
In US 20130066974, John H. Yoakum et al. disclose a method for initiating an application for participants of an audio conference to allow a participant to initiate an application after a conference call has been established and thus allow all the other participants to access the application through their respective apparatuses by sharing their desktop with other participants, wherein the application supports the participants' joint operation.